Chapter 3 explains the principle of the indivisibility and interdependence of human rights (‘the principle of indivisibility) as recognising: (a) the equal importance of economic, social and cultural rights with civil and political rights, and (b) the interdependence of rights within and across categories. It explains how the privileging of civil and political rights, including the right to legal capacity, erroneously frames state restraint as always rights-affirming; such framing, in turn, demands the abolition of decision-making by substitutes. It argues that depending on how an adult with cognitive disability is contingently situated even after all supports are provided, they may require a decision to be made by a substitute to fulfil an immediate socio-economic need and to claim their human rights. It argues that Article 12, in requiring supports for legal capacity, is a ‘hybrid’ civil and political and socio-economic right, illustrating and driving the principle of indivisibility in the CRPD.

Publications on citizenship, democracy, and disability tend to focus almost exclusively on the labor market, the political system, as well as assistance and support, and not on education. The same holds true in reverse. Democracy in relation to education and schooling is often discussed in a restricted manner. Disability is not treated with specific interest in this context. This chapter addresses this gap with a specific focus on John Dewey’s theoretical considerations. It first outline key aspects of Dewey’s theoretical framework before turning to the issue of disability and the specific risks it entails for democratic life in general and democratic participation in particular. It then explores the question of whether Dewey’s pragmatist approach can be used to make progress for disabled people’s education. It particularly discusses tensions and dilemmas that disability poses for democratic and inclusive education.

This introductory chapter outlines the structure of the book and some of the themes that appear throughout the book. The themes include intersectionality, the role of social factors in causing and maintaining mental ill-health, the need for a public mental health approach, and the role of mental health professionals and services in facilitating social inclusion. We discuss why social exclusion violates social justice and social solidarity, and put forward ten reasons why mental health professionals should be concerned with social exclusion.

“Decades ago, the rehabilitation model emerged as an innovative tool for planning services and clarifying clients’ goals. Central to the model are disadvantages. Yoman and Edelstein (1994) defined disadvantages in terms of the relationship between clients’ performance and environmental demands. This definition of disadvantage incorporates social constraints such as discrimination and is consistent with the biopsychosocial model of disability. Defining disadvantage this way is also highly compatible with behavioral assessment, and readily yields skills training and advocacy/support goals to improve the client’s quality of life. Viewed from a present day perspective, the rehabilitation model played an important historical role, in part as a transition from the medical model to the recovery model. It continues to be relevant today. As alluded to above, many of the disadvantages people with serious mental illnesses face are systemic, and held in common across many individuals. This chapter will describe the implications of the rehabilitation model for addressing both individual and systemic disadvantages. With a view toward the future, the chapter will show how the rehabilitation model can be reconciled with the recovery model, and how it can be used to continue to improve services for those with serious mental illnesses.”

The capability approach provides three important insights to the debate on disability and justice. First, the approach helps resolve some of the tensions in current views of disability, which either emphasize disability as a natural suboptimal trait, or as prevalently socially determined. The approach suggests instead an interactional understanding of disability, where impairment relates to restrictions in functionings, and disability to the consequent limitations in real opportunities. Second, the approach provides a metric of justice which, unlike other metrics such as the Rawlsian social primary goods, is sensitive to the demands of people with disabilities. The potential lower opportunity for well-being of a person with disabilities can only be evaluated in relation to the absence of a certain functioning, and the related inequality in her real opportunities to lead her life fully. Finally, the capability approach, specifically in Nussbaum’s work, advances the discussion on the equal moral and political status of people with disabilities, and cognitive disabilities in particular, by suggesting that their full citizenship is enacted through forms of surrogacy and guardianship when needed, and by defending their human dignity as participants in the human community.

This chapter explores vulnerability, courage, and grit in turn, considering their relationship to one another and to the task of educating for emotional virtues and for social justice. Resilience and mindfulness in education are often recommended to make vulnerable or at-risk youth less vulnerable, to mental or emotional disturbance, poor academic achievement, drop out, and related concerns. Yet this chapter argues that there is a bright side to vulnerability, and good reason to question common conflations of it with entirely negative experiences and feelings. There can be a positive role for particular kinds of experiences of vulnerability, generally within communities, and particularly in education. On the other hand, courage is normally prized in society, and has been promoted in education. However, to be understood as a virtue, courage must be tempered, so that it is not reckless, careless, or brash. Grit is a combination of passion and perseverance.

Human services practitioners who are entering the field in the early twenty-first century, or who have worked in the field for some time and have seen wide-ranging changes in the ways human services are conceived, funded and delivered, face the same task of making sense of complexity at the government, organisational and grassroots levels. In analysing current social policy, it is appropriate to ask not only what is expected to be the impact of any proposed policy change on affected individuals and groups but also how the particular issue being addressed has come to be nominated as a social problem and which ideological forces are proposing change or opposing it. Social policy in Australia since white settlement has been shaped by dominant white, Judaeo-Christian values. Beyond that, any classification of Australian political dynamics and debates concerning social policy in terms of competing ideologies risks over-simplification. A distinguishing feature of successive Australian governments in the twentieth century was their respective approaches to social change being shaped by fundamentally different commitments to and strategies of social welfare provision.

This chapter focuses on how early years’ educators can foster wellbeing through learning in health and physical education. This chapter is organised into sections that provide the background knowledge that is relevant to the health promotion and wellbeing of all early years learners, paying particular attention to students with backgrounds that for many reasons can be described as educationally disadvantaged. Recent policies that should guide educator decision-making across the dimensions of health and physical education and wellbeing will be canvassed. Insights are given into the relationship between recognition of culture and identity and educational rights, building resilience, safety and pride in the early years and the educator’s role in fostering their development. While this discussion does canvass some social and contextual factors underpinning healthy development for children who experience disadvantage, the focus is more on what you can do as a teacher to promote these dimensions from a strengths-based or salutogenic approach (Antonovsky, 1996; Quennerstedt, 2008; 2019). The chapter concludes with a case study of how teachers can act locally and in partnership with national and community-level organisations to facilitate wellbeing in early years learners via the health and physical education learning area.

Inequities in children’s health and wellbeing represent a ‘wicked problem’ that is the focus of much international attention. These inequities are a ‘wicked problem’ because of the complexity of underlying causes and contributing factors identified in this chapter as the social determinants of health. Social determinants arise not only out of individual neurobiology/physiology differences, but from the world around children impacting not only directly on them, but on their parents (and even their grandparents). Attempts to address these issues to create a more socially just society need to be complex and sophisticated. Early childhood educators play a significant role in contributing to these initiatives.

Inequities in children’s health and wellbeing represent a ‘wicked problem’ that is the focus of much international attention. These inequities are a ‘wicked problem’ because of the complexity of underlying causes and contributing factors identified in this chapter as the social determinants of health. Social determinants arise not only out of individual neurobiology/physiology differences, but from the world around children impacting not only directly on them, but on their parents (and even their grandparents). Attempts to address these issues to create a more socially just society need to be complex and sophisticated. Early childhood educators play a significant role in contributing to these initiatives.

This chapter focuses on how early years’ educators can foster wellbeing through learning in health and physical education. This chapter is organised into sections that provide the background knowledge that is relevant to the health promotion and wellbeing of all early years learners, paying particular attention to students with backgrounds that for many reasons can be described as educationally disadvantaged. Recent policies that should guide educator decision-making across the dimensions of health and physical education and wellbeing will be canvassed. Insights are given into the relationship between recognition of culture and identity and educational rights, building resilience, safety and pride in the early years and the educator’s role in fostering their development. While this discussion does canvass some social and contextual factors underpinning healthy development for children who experience disadvantage, the focus is more on what you can do as a teacher to promote these dimensions from a strengths-based or salutogenic approach (Antonovsky, 1996; Quennerstedt, 2008; 2019). The chapter concludes with a case study of how teachers can act locally and in partnership with national and community-level organisations to facilitate wellbeing in early years learners via the health and physical education learning area.